


Photograph Past

by sarcasm_unlocked



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-03-10
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:51:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcasm_unlocked/pseuds/sarcasm_unlocked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s the clock from England, a bottle of Russian vodka, clothing hanging precariously in the closet and bow displayed proudly for anyone willing to enter. Then, there's the lone picture frame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photograph Past

“It’s just like Budapest”  
  
Three days later and that comment still has him chuckling to himself. Smile still faint on his lips he gently circles himself around, surveying the room that he calls him. There’s the clock from England, a bottle of Russian vodka, clothing hanging precariously in the closet and bow displayed proudly for anyone willing to enter. It may be small, everything clustered together, but it’s one place that never fails to bring things back into perspective and he needed that.  
  
His sharp blue eyes traveled slowly across the walls and furniture before settling on a single frame. In it rested an old picture of him and Natasha, faces lit by lazy smiles, and foreheads caked in dirt, sweat and flecks of dried blood. Somewhere in the background, he could spot Coulson and some other SHIELD agents conversing, about what, the agent still didn’t know, nor did he care too.

 

  
 _It was a mission gone wrong. It was meant to be recon only, but there had been a bug in the agency. That’s how they had opened the door to the lodge they were stay at, as two associates there on a business trip, and were confronted by tanned faces and loaded guns. They eventually found themselves holding position in a dry, slightly fortified area just in front of a building. It might have been a store, might have been a house. All he’s really sure of is that they had evacuated everyone they could before the unnamed people caught up to them. It was their that they waited, shooting at enemies and directing Coulson to their position._  
  
 _There were several uncomfortably close calls from the just dodged bullet to the blade wielders who got in a swipe or two here and there. In the end though, they got out in one piece, albeit a bit stitched up, but alive and not missing any limbs. That in itself was enough for him, and from the way Natasha playfully side eyed, it was enough for her as well._  
  
 _He’s still not sure who it was that took the picture of them, still high on the adrenaline, but when he had arrived back to his quarters all those years ago, it was waiting for him, slipped under the door. Not thinking much of it, he had placed it in the drawer of his Aspen wood desk. But then it happened, again and again. Not the pictures with no trace of who took it. No, although that would have been a little creepy. It was the many missions that would go wrong or take some unexpected turn. Soon Budapest was no longer that one mission that solidified a strong friendship. Budapest was recon in Russia, assassination in Saudi Arabia, infiltration in Bolivia._

 

  
A sharp rap on the door pulled him out from his run in the past. Getting up, he made his way to the slab of wood that concealed his visitor. Fiery red hair greeted him, fading past then clambering onto his bed ungracefully. Closing the door again, he moved to sit next to the female, reclining into his pillows. It was a comfortable quiet keeping them company as he kept his eyes pinned on the framed picture.  
  
“I’ve never noticed that picture before. When did you put it up?” she asked, genuinely interested. He only held up three fingers up to indicate the number of days ago. “When is it from?”  
  
“Budapest,” he answered teasingly, earning a small snort.  
  
“Which Budapest?”  
  
“The first.” They settled down again into their silence, each mulling over thoughts.  
  
“The Avengers, what do you think?” He didn’t need her to elaborate. Simply crinkled his eyes with a small smile and turned to look at his friend.  
  
 _“I think we’ll work just fine.”_  
  
 _“Yeah,” Natasha breathed, taking in her new teammate, “I think so too, Clint.”_

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, that's really just my take on what happened in "Budapest" and this is actually not my first fanfic for the fandom. I am actually the author of Heart of Lights which is posted on my sister's account.  
> This was really an out of the moment burst of inspiration and the chances of another fanfic are kind of slim at this point in time.  
> Still, I hope you liked this and are willing to leave comments and helpful critic, thanks!


End file.
